Community
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Create Your Own Atheopagan Gathering!
What I know is this: the gatherings are lovely. Good people, good humor, intelligent conversation, kind values. The kind of people I am proud to call friends. The Atheopagan Society has now produced two in-person events for Atheopagans: the Suntree Retreats, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA. We do them every two years*. The Suntree Retreats and the in-person gatherings of my local Atheopagan affinity group are precious to me because of how they feel. When I am there, I feel seen and open and surrounded by people who interest and inspire me. Nice as Zoom gatherings are, there is nothing like hanging out with people in person. Recently, while attending…
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It’s Even More Important Now
It’s a natural impulse: what, right now, is the damned point?* What’s the point of spirituality, of religion? What’s the point of personal rituals and seasonal celebrations, of rites of passage? With things as they are, why bother with things like mythopoetic expression? And I am here to tell you that at such times, it’s more important than ever to conduct our rites and to build community around our shared values. Here’s why. First of all, it is the #1 assignment for those of us who embrace values like the Atheopagan Principles that we persist. Even the most evil regimes have not lasted forever. We have to carry the torch…
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Keeping the Flame Alive
The cruelty will be the point. The incompetence, we get for free. Today is the last day of the Joe Biden Presidency in the US. By all factual accounts, Biden has done a sterling job: orchestrating a “soft landing” for the US economy after the plunge of the pandemic, shrinking unemployment and promoting unions, providing unprecedented leadership on climate change and conservation, reestablishing credibility with allies, and pushing through the largest investment in clean energy and US infrastructure since the creation of the Interstate Highway System in the 1950s. But right-wing media and propaganda are an increasing presence in our lives, and first Biden, and then Vice President Harris were…
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The Resistance Becomes Serious Now
The return of Donald Trump and his appalling gang of fascistic cronies to power will have worldwide impacts. There no other way to put this: those of us with decent, kind and life-affirming values are decidedly out of power in the United States as of January 20, 2025, and the likely environmental, human and economic harm that will result both domestically and internationally cannot be understated. Atheopaganism has always been transgressive. Our relationship with the Overculture has always been one of pushing back on core values like the idea of the “inherent sinfulness” of humanity, our exploitative relationship with our fellow creatures and the fabric of life on Earth, and…
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Love Letter from the Foot of the Mountain
It had been two years, three months and and sixteen days. In that time, I had seen not a one of the amazing people I met at Suntree Retreat 2022 in person. Zoom calls with a few, social media exchanges. And now I am come back from the 2024 Retreat. I am brimming over, having seen some of them again and met newcomers to my world. We laughed a lot. We sang. We shared rituals of grief and joy, celebrated transitions, and spoke unguardedly of the important things in our lives. We told stories and shared lore. The love was palpable. Strange and wonderful, the unique and beautiful people of…
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Off to SUNTREE RETREAT!
It’s early morning, with the Sun just beginning to rise. My bags are packed, and I’m off to the airport soon to go to SUNTREE RETREAT 2024! I try to minimize my flying, but I don’t have the available time at work to drive this year, so here we are. I bought carbon credits to offset my travel, but that’s not much mitigation in my opinion. In any event, I’m off to Colorado to spend four days with fellow Atheopagans, sharing rituals and comradery, celebration and meaningful times. The last one was just amazing and I have high expectations for this one. I was just knocked out last time by…
